With the advent of the global information network, known as the “Internet,” the capability of connecting to and accessing the resources available on the Internet has increased in recent years. For example, Internet service providers (“ISPs”) provide moderate access speed to the Internet over analog telephone lines, whereas increased “broadband” speed is available over digital subscriber lines (“DSL”) and cable modem connections. Other high-speed data lines are also known.
In general, wired high-speed connections, such as those available via DSL and cable services, can be configured to be shared by a group of computers without dramatically affecting the perceptible performance of any one computer in the group. For example, routers are capable of sharing a single Internet connection among a network of computers, thereby allowing each computer in the network to access resources on the Internet. Unfortunately, current Internet access sharing devices, such as routers, have a number of drawbacks. Most significantly, known routers are generally limited to fixed connection points. Thus, a router capable of sharing DSL or cable connections requires a connection to the DSL or cable line, typically via a DSL or cable modem. Since, DSL and cable lines are established at fixed locations, the usefulness of such an Internet access sharing arrangement is limited to a geographic region proximate the fixed location.
More recently, the capabilities of connecting to and accessing the Internet has been implemented in certain wireless communication devices, such as mobile phones. However, mobile phones are generally regarded as standalone devices, where access to Internet resources is typically carried out directly via the mobile phone interface, i.e., via applications executed on the mobile phone. Currently, however, the use of mobile phones for accessing resources from Internet has been limited for a variety of reasons. One reason is that the data rate (or bandwidth) provided to most wireless communications devices is typically limited. Secondly, mobile phones have small displays, thereby limiting the viewing of large documents. Third, the limited controls available on mobile phones make navigation and data entry cumbersome. These and other factors negatively impact the user's experience in accessing Internet resources on the mobile phone.
Furthermore, although some mobile phones can be connected to a computer via a special cable or interface (e.g., a PCMCIA mobile phone), use of the mobile phone for connecting to the Internet in this fashion is generally limited to and intended for a single computer user. This is because of the enduring understanding in field of wireless communication devices that mobile phones and their adapter variants, such as PCMCIA mobile phones, are single-user standalone devices.
Accordingly, there is a strong need in the art to address these and other deficiencies present in known Internet access techniques.